Although some racing enthusiasts may take issue with its description of Daytona's endurance race as America's greatest -- let's not forget the 12-hour race at Sebring -- this updated and expanded book, first published in 2003, does belong in the category of comprehensive histories.

There are complete box scores for every race, beginning with the first one in 1962 (a three-hour event, as was the next, which in turn was followed by 12-hour races in 1964 and 1965), along with an index of every driver who competed in them. The early chapters are probably the ones that will interest history buffs the most, especially with their generous selection of photos.

When Daytona began, drivers didn't consider themselves too specialized to try their hand at endurance racing, so the earliest Daytona sports car races often looked like all-star events, with drivers from all racing disciplines: Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, A. J. Foyt, Rodger Ward and Fireball Roberts. We can only imagine a starting lineup like that in a race nowadays.